EDUC 391:

Homo sapiens sapiens: What does it mean to be human?

Syllabus for Fall 2011
Updated 10/26/11, 8:30 a.m. -- Watch for more updates

TR 11:00 a.m.-12.15 p.m.
McDowell Hall, Room 102

|| Course Description & Objectives || Course Requirements || Required Readings || Grading ||
|| Writing Fellows || Policy on Cheating || Policy on Illness ||
|| Weekly Schedule of Reading and Writing || Quick Calendar of Assignments ||

Quick Calendar of Assignments

Clicking on the date in the calendar will take you to that date's readings and P/F writing assignment. (Clicking on the day in the Weekly Schedule, above, will also take you to that day's assignment.)

Course Description

Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection unsettled devoutly-held beliefs about what it means to be human: our origins, obligations, and special place among all living creatures. Evolutionary thinking still provokes strong opposition in some communities, but it has become the guiding paradigm in the biological sciences. What can evolutionary science teach us, however, about what it means to be human-not just a hairless ape with opposable thumbs and deadlier technology? The new field of evolutionary psychology is producing some intriguing answers-and even more interesting questions. It marshals many kinds of evidence, from prehistoric "bones and stones" to self-reported behavior in intimate relationships, to explain how humans evolved such big brains, and at what cost; why the sexes differ in size, perceptual skills, mating strategies and longevity; whether infanticide and ethnocentrism are the dark shadows of once-adaptive human behaviors; and if human innovation in the last 500,000 years has itself influenced the course of human evolution. Like philosophers over the ages, the field also seeks the hidden causal essences in human behavior-the human universals in love, sex, war, family, loyalty, hierarchy and reciprocity. Evolutionary research also provides insight into practical matters, such as why pregnant women get morning sickness and modern populations are getting so fat. In addition to probing the general assumptions, methods and findings of evolutionary psychology, this class will debate how likely it is to explain, undermine or enhance our humanity.

Course Objectives

This course is a Freshman Honors Colloquium. As such, it emphasizes class discussion and requires considerable writing. The aim is to develop your thinking and writing skills while sharing an intellectual adventure into a rather new scientific arena—the evolutionary origins of human behavior patterns. Are humans unique among species? If so, how? We will ponder the aims, assumptions, and conclusions of this science against more philosophical views of what makes us human. To understand what humans have aspired to be over the millennia, we will turn to literature from both ancient and modern thinkers. 

My main objective is to see your minds at work; to see you thinking deeply, beyond the obvious.

Course Requirements

• There will be three papers. You will rewrite the first two. Rewriting is more then just a cosmetic touch-up. It involves rethinking, too. Usually lots of it. A Writing Fellow will be available to assist you with all papers, including the rewrites. See the schedule below for when papers and rewrites will be assigned and due. All papers and rewrites must be typed, double-spaced, proofread, and stapled—and pages numbered. You can use any standard bibliographic style for your references.
• Please note: The papers are a vehicle for you to develop your skills in developing and supporting a persuasive argument of your choice. They are exercises in analytical thinking, drawing on relevant evidence and careful logic, clearly communicated to your reader. This is the sort of rigorous thinking, communicated in written form, that is required in science and other intellectual endeavors.   
• In addition to the graded assignments, there will be occasional pass-fail (P/F) writing assignments and quizzes based on class readings for the current topic. I much prefer but do not require that the P/F assignments be typed. Pass-fail assignments for a particular day are always finalized by the end of the prior class.
• You will be expected to attend class, have done your readings, and regularly participate in class discussion. Your participation grade is enhanced by a willingness to take intellectual risks in class, asking good questions, facilitating discussion among your classmates, and bringing pertinent news articles and observations to class. Being prepared also includes bringing the day's readings to class, because we will sometimes turn to them during our discussions.

Required Readings

Note: Some readings may be deleted and others added during the course of the semester. The readings (and pass-fail assignments) for any specific class will be considered final at the time of the previous class.

• Required book available at UD bookstore
• Buss, D. (2008). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind (4^th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• All other required readings are available online (see daily assignment links). Most online readings are password protected, so you need to enter your regular UD username and password.

Grading

• 80% Papers
• 25% Rethink/Rewrite 1
• Note: You must turn in the first versions of Papers 1 and 2 on time, or I will subtract points from the grade for your rewrite.
• 30% Rethink/Rewrite 2
• 25% Paper 3
• 20% Class participation (quizzes, pass-fail writing assignments, being prepared for class everyday, raising good questions in class, contributing fully to your small group, sometimes taking the lead for your group, attendance, punctuality, etc.).

Writing Fellows

This course, like other Freshmen Honors Colloquia, participates in the Honors Program's Writing Fellow Program. Writing Fellows are UD undergraduates who have taken a special course in peer tutoring of writing.

• Fellows come from many majors, and are not intended to know the subject matter. They do not comment on the content of your papers. Rather, they work with you, one-on-one, to help you improve your writing. (I will give you feedback on the relevance, accuracy, and completeness of the content.) Fellows do not edit or correct your papers. Rather, they help you formulate, organize, and support your ideas, among other things mentioned below. Our objective is not just for you to end up with a better paper, but to become a better, more self-aware writer!
• Here is the fellowing process we follow in this class.
• Paper 1:
• You will turn in two copies of your paper, one to me and one to your writing fellow. You will also bring with you a completed Writer Response form for your fellow. It gives the fellow helpful information when going through your paper.
• NOTE: Your first version is not a "draft!" It is your first best effort. If it's not, then you are wasting my time and the fellow’s, and you are less likely to end up with a satisfactory result.
• One week after you turn in the paper, you will get feedback on it from the writing fellow.  Fellows do not give any grades.
• You will have one week to rethink and revise your paper. During this time you will meet for a one-half hour conference with your fellow to discuss how you want to revise your paper. You will turn in two copies of your second version.
• The conference for this paper is mandatory, and you must notify the fellow ahead of time, if possible, when you cannot keep your appointment. You must then reschedule it.
• I will return your revision to you in one week, with feedback and a grade.
• You may seek advice from either the writing fellow or me, or both, anytime during this process.
• Paper 2:
• Exactly the same process as for Paper 1.
• Paper 3:
• There is no mandatory conference, but I strongly encourage you to meet with your writing fellow because you will not be rewriting this paper.
• Fellows use a variety of practices to help students with their writing, depending on the stage of the writing process and students' needs. For example, they can help you
• brainstorm thoughts for a paper and interpret the writing assignment
• revise your drafts by helping you with organization, tone, the thesis statement, proper citation, and the like
• use a variety of stylistic techniques to polish near-final drafts.
• Writing fellows are a wonderful and rare resource. Make good use of this opportunity.  

Policy on Cheating

• Please familiarize yourself with the University's statement on academic dishonesty in the Student Code of Conduct, especially as it pertains to plagiarism. I prosecute cheating and I have won all cases so far.
• For additional guidance, see the School of Education’s handout on academic honesty.

Policy on Illness

Please do not come to class if you have any signs of illness. Just email me to say you are ill. Your classmates and I will help you catch up.

Weekly Schedule of Reading and Writing

Note: Some readings may be deleted and others added during the course of the semester. The readings (and pass-fail assignments) for any specific class will be considered final at the time of the previous class.

I. Scientific Search for Human Uniqueness

Day 1 (8/30)    Class cancelled

Day 2 (9/1)      What does the average person think it means to "be human?"

Day 3 (9/6)      Wade, Chapter 1: Genetics & Genesis  (pp. 1-11)

                        Ridley, Chapter 2: Species (pp. 22-37)

Day 4 (9/8)      Allman, Chapter 7: The evolution of big brains (pp. 160-208)

Day 5 (9/13)    Lewin, Chapter 5: The archeology of modern humans (pp. 116-134)

Day 6 (9/15)     Lewin, Chapter 7: Language and modern human origins (pp. 162-182)

                        Lynch, Good grief: An undertaker's reflections. (pp. 242-247)

II. Public Perceptions of Human vs. Non-Human

Day 7 (9/20)     "Human-android interaction in the near and distant future"

Day 8 (9/22)     You decide

Day 9 (9/27)     You decide

III. Scientific Search for Evolutionary Origins of Everyday Human Behavior

Day 10 (9/29)  Buss, Chapter 1: The Scientific Movements Leading to Evolutionary Psychology (pp. 2-25, 32-33)

Day 11 (10/4)  Hill, excerpt from "preface," pp. xi-xii. 

                        Hill excerpt from “forest life,” pp. 65-73. 

Day 12 (10/6)

Due: Paper 1

IV. Threats to Survival

Day 13 (10/11)  Buss, Chapter 2: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology (pp. 35-69)

Day 14 (10/13)  Buss, Chapter 3: Combating the Hostile Forces of Nature: Human Survival Problems (pp. 72-103)

Day 15 (10/18)  Hill, “Mortality,” pp. 151-177

V. Challenges of Sex and Mating

Day 16 (10/20)   Buss, Chapter 4: Women’s Long-Term Mating Strategies (pp 106-138)

Due: Paper 1 rewrite

Day 17 (10/25)   Buss, Chapter 5: Men’s Long-Term Mating Strategies (pp. 139-173)

Day 18 (10/27)   Buss, Chapter 6: Short-Term Sexual Strategies (pp. 174-201)

Day 19 (11/1)     Buss, Chapter 11: Conflict between the sexes (pp. 328-360)

Day 20 (11/3)     Hill, “Development, Marriage, and Other Life Course Events,” pp. 223-235.

Due: Paper 2 -- Graphic help for Paper 2: Mars and Venus play the mating game: Tragedy and comedy?

VI. Challenges of Parenting and Kinship

Day 21 (11/8)     Buss, Chapter 7: Problems of Parenting (pp. 204-236)

Day 22 (11/10)   Hill, “Development, Marriage, and Other Life Course Events,” pp. 219-223, 235-239.

Day 23 (11/15)   Buss, Chapter 8. Problems of Kinship (pp. 237-265)

VII. Problems of Group Living

Day 24 (11/17)   Buss, Chapter 9: Cooperative Alliances (pp. 268-296)

   Video shown in class: The Ax Fight (Yanomano group)

Due: Rewrite 2

Day 25 (11/22)   Buss, Chapter 10: Aggression and Warfare (pp. 297-327)

   Excerpt from Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Act II, Scene II, Cominius’s speech about Coriolanus’s Roman warrior virtues.

   Larry Niven's "Why men fight wars"

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Day 26 (11/29)  Buss, Chapter 12: Status, Prestige, and Social Dominance (ONLY pages 361-376, 382-388)

Day 27 (12/1)    Buss, Chapter 13: Toward a Unified Evolutionary Psychology (ONLY pages 400-408, 422-428)      

Day 28 (12/6)    Conclusion

Due: Paper 3:  Friday, Dec. 14, by email.